Salisbury Soroptimists, are calling on women from Salisbury to report incidents of violence so that a true picture of ‘the epidemic’ becomes clearer.
The local group, who have been running a Women’s Safety Campaign over the past three years, have given a cautious welcome to the announcement in the King’s speech of the government’s intention to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG).
It is estimated that annually over two million women are victims of violence perpetrated by men – that’s one in twelve women. And, this is thought to be an under-estimate, as many incidents are not reported.
Reports are increasing year-on-year while perpetrators are getting younger.
This week, the National Police Chiefs Council and the College of Policing issued a report which said that VAWG should be treated as ‘an epidemic, a national emergency’.
Nationally, Soroptimist International is asking the Government to work with civil society groups to create an inclusive plan for action within the time frame of this parliament.
‘Soroptimist’ comes from the Latin word soror (meaning sister), the term is interpreted as meaning ‘the best for women’.
In Salisbury, the local Soroptimist group has already held a conference to bring together a wide range of community groups to work on a project ‘Making our City Safer’ which has a main emphasis on women and girls. This led to an audit of street lighting in the city to identify dark places. The Area Board subsequently commissioned a report to address some of these findings.
Salisbury Soroptimist President Michele Smith says, “We call on all women to report incidents of violence so that the true picture is evident.”
She adds, “We also call on men to speak out to friends and colleagues, about attitudes and language used about women. Everyone has a mother – would you wish her to be abused either verbally or physically?”
Sports groups and some communities were offered self-defence training, and by-stander training has been publicised – this training is to enable anyone to safely intervene if they see an incident happening (it can be accessed free online via the Suzy Lamplugh Trust).
Men can very easily be involved by making the White Ribbon pledge – “I will never use, excuse or remain silent about men’s violence against women”. They can join Male Allies which works towards a more inclusive society.
Salisbury Soroptimists have also organised School Forums to inform young people about healthy relationships, consent, the dangers of online pornography and the importance of language in shaping attitudes. This kind of collaboration needs to be scaled to national level and implemented in all communities. It is everyone’s responsibility to be involved.
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